This invention relates to an assembly including a combined radio broadcast receiver, transceiver unit and cartridge tape player adapted to be mounted in the dashboard of an automobile or other motor vehicle.
Combination radio units of this type must necessarily be very restricted in size in order to be mountable within the dashboard of a vehicle. When thus limited as to overall size, it becomes extremely difficult to satisfactorily incorporate the transceiver and cartridge tape player into the main radio unit. In some conventional types of combination radio, transceiver and tape player assemblies incorporated in a single housing, circuits are so overcrowded that even a screw driver can not be inserted into the circuitry when repairs or adjustments are required. As a result, when operational difficulties are encountered or adjustments are required in the unit, correction of the problem is often so difficult that the entire assembly is removed from the dashboard and replaced with a new set, at considerable cost and with great inconvenience.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved combination radio, transceiver and cartridge tape player constructed to avoid the disadvantages of prior art devices as set forth above. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and attached drawing.
This invention provides an improved combination automobile radio assembly of the discussed general type, in which the radio broadcast receiver has a built-in cartridge tape player but is formed separately from an associated transceiver unit, with the transceiver in turn being divided into a main function unit, that is, a transmitting and receiving unit, and an operating unit. The function unit of the transceiver is shaped as a relatively thin hook-shaped box which may be attached by connector members to the rear of the radio broadcast receiver and be set in the dashboard with the broadcast receiver. The operating unit of the transceiver is associated with or connected to a microphone whose cord extends from the function unit of the transceiver.
The unique assembly of the invention has an enormous advantage over conventional radio, transceiver and tape player devices since the conventional centralized circuit is functionally separated into different radio broadcast receiver and transceiver sections which can be readily repaired or adjusted when necessary. Further, if one of these sections becomes inoperable, the other may still function properly. Additionally, the separate construction of the function unit and operating unit of the transceiver permits a reduction in size of the portion of the transceiver which must be mounted in the dashboard, and increases the practicability of the overall arrangement.